Admitting You Have a Problem is the First Step...

First things first, Bucky Bee is finally finished!

(insert applause here!)

I followed Gene Shepherd's video on how to whip the edges of the rug with the binding, and while I am no Gene Shepherd, it turned out pretty well for my first try.

First Rug is complete!

Now that I know I can do this rug hooking thing, and it is actually FUN, I am on to the next project.  I did buy some lovely wool at the Cream City Hook-In, thinking I knew what I wanted to do next:

Isn't it pretty?  Lots of fantastic greens,

and this amazing pumpkin/gold plaid.

And then...I froze!

I thought I wanted to do a simple 2'x3' rug for my family room in a pattern of squares within squares, because I've seen some really cool designs with that theme.  But then, I saw Sharon Townsend's circles that we use on the Bee Line - Townsend website, and then I saw a blog the other day (whose name I can't remember and am completely wracking my brain over) where the background was this fun collection of circles with brightly colored centers, and I thought THAT'S the rug I want to do next!  So I'm stuck on circles in my head for a week and then I find these at Wicked Wool:

Oy.  I am powerless.  I used to own a gift shop, and every Halloween I dyed yards of vintage chenille and made pumpkins to sell.  But hooked pumpkins?  When I have all of this beautiful pumpkin/gold colored wool?  What is a hooker to do?  So I ordered a kit.  Now I'm thinking, "Maybe I'll just wait on the rug for the family room and do the pumpkin first!" 

It's official - I have RADD. 

Rug Attention Deficiency Disorder.

I'm starting to try to talk myself down off the ledge.  There is plenty of time to do all the rugs I want to do.  But while it's hard to just look at that wool and not run it through my cutter with my favorite #7 cassette, when I pick up the wool and move it toward the cutter, I think, "WAIT!  What if I change my mind and want to use a #6?  Or a #8.5, which I also love?" and then "What if I decide to do something else, like a picture of my amazing Standard Poodle George the Superpet?"

And who wouldn't want a rug with this hunk of a dog on it? 

Who, I ask!?!  Maybe my mother, who is being

accosted by said dog in this picture.

Of course, now that I see this picture of George, I still want to do an Andy Warhol-style rug of his head, but I think that is a little beyond my capabilities at the moment.  Best to stick with my simple squares and circles.  So here I am, back at Square One.  Literally.  The possibilities of what you can hook are endless!  How do all of you experienced hookers out there ever decide what to do?  

I guess I need to cut my wool and Just Hook It. 

In a Bind with Bucky

Bucky is still in the works.  Something I'm learning about rug hooking is that when you think you're done, you're not done.  When you're still hooking in those last loops and you start fantasizing about the next rug you're going to tackle, you might just forget that you still need to bind your rug, and that is not done in one sitting.  Unless you're watching the royal wedding. 

Why didn't I do this during the Royal Wedding!?!

Oh yes, the Royal Wedding was at 4 a.m.  I was brushing my teeth with coffee and putting my cereal in the toaster, so it's probably for the best I wasn't busy ruining my rug.

I did manage to get Bucky bound from watching Gene Shepherd's Internet Rug Camp video.  Is it as nice as Gene's?  NO.  But Gene is Gene, and I am The Rookie Hooker, so there are levels of accomplishment to consider.

Here is a picture of Bucky with the edges bound.  It's unfortunate that I took this picture against the lovely backdrop of the industrial carpet at work.

I bound the rug in black yarn, which does look nice and frames it up a bit.  You can see the binding on the back here:

Oooh, look at those puckers!  But when it's bound, it's bound, and I didn't have the heart to tear it all out.  Here is a close up of one of the corners being pinned with the binding.  Please ignore the obvious errors on the back of my rug!

I'm cringing a little bit more at this one.  I did trim the linen back, and I'm putting a magnet strip in the top binding so I can hang it at shows.  Once again, hoping I don't do anything to ruin poor Bucky.

Meanwhile, I am cutting my wool for project #2.  Of course, I am using my awesome Bee Line Townsend cutter.  It's very theraputic to run wool through that machine.  I loved working with the #7 cassette so much on my first rug that I'm doing my second rug in a #7 cut as well.  On the third rug I'll branch out a little and see what other new things I can try.  Rug #2 is going to be a floor rug for my house, a number of squares in squares in different colors.  Probably a little on the boring side, but I need to work on my technique, so this will be good practice.  I wish I had a color planner living next door!  I did buy some very beautiful wool at the Cream City Hook-In in Milwaukee a couple of weeks ago, I'll post pictures of that later this week.

Have a great week - I'm always up for suggestions or tips if you have any!
~Julie

Thank you, Steamer!

I would like to stop and thank whomever in rug hooking's rich and long history stopped to steam their rug for the first time.  I must admit, I thought to myself, "Self, how big a difference can it really make?"  The answer is...

LOTS.

I'm not sure that you'll really be able to see much of a difference in pictures, but I'll try.

Here is Bucky Bee before steaming:

Here is Bucky Bee after steaming:

Here is a close-up of the blue loops before steaming:

Here is a close up of loops after steaming:

And here is a picture of the Queen of England giving my first rug her royal blessing:

The Queen Bee, as I like to call her, has a solar panel in her purse so she is always waving at me.  This photo is also of the loops pre-steam.  Here is a picture of the same area after steaming:

It's still my "First Rug", so I know it is all full of moles and freckles, but I'm pretty excited about it.  I have to say that one thing I noticed about steaming is that it smelled!  Maybe my white towels need a little more detergent, but otherwise, wet steaming wool does NOT smell like brownies or flowers or sunshine.  Even my dog George, a 110-pound Standard Poodle, got up and left the room.   Strike one for the lesson book!

My next step is binding and whipping.  (I love rug hooking, the terms are all so very risque and perhaps a little bawdy. I'm sure the Queen would approve.)  I have been so very, very lucky with all of the terrific rug hookers I've met who have given me advice on my hooking, and now I have found the ultimate treasure, which so many of you before me have discovered - Gene Shepherd's Internet Rug Hooking Camp!

For the totally worth it price of $36 for a year, I signed up for the camp, and guess what?  In addition to galleries full of photos and a very informative blog and lots of other goodies, he has instructional videos!  Who-hooo!  While I do own a copy of The Rug Hooking Bible by Jane Olson and Gene, and I love it, I do better watching something than reading.  This video collection is the best thing ever!

I'm going out tonight to buy myself a Chibi needle and some binding tape, and let the whip-stitching begin!

Bucky is done!

I have an announcement in Rookie Hooker Land...

I've finished my first rug!

Okay, not REALLY.  But I'm done hooking him.  I'm going to steam it tonight, and then I'll get started on the binding and such.  Here he is:

I did end up taking out the loops on the R in the circle, because it looked more like Bucky threw up than an actual letter.  The original letter was in a #7 cut, but I replaced it with a #4, and it worked much, much better.  I learned a lesson about wool - the Dorr Mill Store wool I used was fantastic, as was the wool I bought from Cabin Fever, dyed by Ginny Glover, but the black wool I used was from Hancock Fabrics, and no offense Hancock, I love you for other things, but that black wool would shred if the cut got to be too small.  Dorr Mill is one of our Bee Line Townsend distributors, and I've never gone wrong with any of their wool, and the blue wool I bought from Ginny was so beautiful and easy to work with.

Tonight, I steam.  I'm hoping it will cover up a lot of my mistakes, like all of my new hooker friends tell me it will.  That steamer has a lot of work to do!

The People Behind the Bee

I finished a corner on my Bucky Bee rug, which was pretty exciting.  I decided that while I'm probably not able to spell out the "Bee Line - Townsend" in our logo, I'm brave enough to try to hook the letters BLT, so I drew those on my linen last night.  We'll see if I come back on here in exasperation next week.

Bucky Bee is a registered trademark, so I put the little R in the circle underneath him, but on the rug it just looks like Bucky threw up.  I can see the R on the back, but on the front?  Not so much.  I've been using a #7 cut, but I'm going to take the loops out of the R and go back with a #3 or #4 cut and see if that works a little better.

As Bucky progresses, I want to show you some of the people who put their hooks into him.  When Bee Line acquired Townsend Industries' fabric cutting equipment, we were all so pleased with what a great fit it is.  Townsend was a small, family-owned company in Altoona, Iowa.  Bee Line is a small, family-owned company in Bettendorf, Iowa.  Townsend had another line of products in their printing equipment, while Bee Line has another line of products in our trucking alignment equipment.  Out of our 50 or so employees, a number of them have a hand in getting the Bee Line Townsend products made and out the door to rug hookers from coast to coast.

Here they are - meet the Bee Line Townsend team!

Our own Shari, my Beehive cohort.

Travis, the king of buffing cassettes and running the big equipment.

Stephanie, who talks to all the blades while making them.

Rhonda, taking a break from cutter bodies

she's building for the Cream City Hook-In.

Steve, our VP of Operations and Head Beekeeper.

Rick, our Plant Manager who keeps the Beehive buzzing.

(He's a little competitive with his loops.)

Kerry, our Controller, who is another busy Beekeeper.

These are just some of the people who have had a hand in the making of Bucky.  More photos in the next couple of weeks of our other fledgling hookers and binders!

Back to Bucky Bee

Hello all!

I've joined the group "Ten-Minute Rug Hookers" on Rug Hooking Daily.  The concept is that you can accomplish a lot on your project if you commit to working 10 minutes a day.  I embrace the concept - it's the practice that's confounding me.  Every time I sit down to do 10 minutes, it somehow turns into 60 or more.  I guess I know to stop when my shoulder and neck start to hurt.  I am going to try to adhere to the 10-minute schedule most days, and then have a longer session a few times a week.  We need to start making Traveler Frames again, so I can take it with me on the go when I'm driving my kids all over the place!

Back to my newbie-ness...

Here is Bucky in his mid-stage:

And here is Bucky getting more of a background behind him:

I keep hooking, and then showing my work to people, and here is what I've learned about myself...

I'm a Packer.

That's right.  I'm a bona fide packer.  I keep thinking I don't want those loops too far apart from each other, and what I end up doing is making those loops invade each other's personal space.  Bucky is starting to go slightly convex, and I know that means I've been packing.  Since I'm new at this, and ultimately a little bit lazy, I'm not taking anything out.  Instead, I've been hooking looser as the background spreads out in the hopes that it will somehow make up for my packiness, but I guess I know how that will probably turn out.

This week I'm having other people at Bee Line Townsend hook on Bucky, and then everyone will have a hand in the finished product, which I plan on taking to shows.  I'm thinking the finished Bucky will debut at The Cream City Hook-In next month.

Do you have any advice for would-be packers?  If I'm using a #7 cut on my wool, how far apart should the loops be to avoid packing?

Rock Creek Hook-In in Lenexa, Kansas

It's been over a week since I had the good fortune to attend Marilyn Schmidt's Rock Creek Hook In in Lenexa, Kansas, and I'm still processing all I learned there!

First, I was extremely lucky to attend the show with none other than the fabulous Katie Lane from Townsend.  We had a nice drive there together, and made our first stop at Black Sheep Wool in Liberty, MO.  If you haven't had a chance to visit Rhonda Manley's shop and you are able, stop reading now and head over!

Marty and Rhonda Manley of Black Sheep Wool, and me. 

No one told Marty to wear his purple shirt that day.

I wish I would've taken more pictures of the studio - the front room has a gorgeous huge window, with patterns hanging all over the place.  The back room has The Great Wall of Wool, in every color you can imagine, and it's warm and homey.  Here is a picture of Sherri Barnhill cutting wool for her project - on a Bee Line Townsend cutter, of course!

Look at all of that wool!

I didn't get many pictures of the inside,

but I did manage to get a picture of the Black Sheep Wool cat,

 who seemed a little miffed at having to be outside.

Sherri's GORGEOUS rug at Black Sheep Wool.



Rhonda Manley's lovely wool flower pins, ready to go to the Hook In.

I am now the lucky owner of one of these!  Yay me!

Our stop at Black Sheep Wool was short, but the Manley's were busy finishing up a workshop in the studio with a group of fun attendees, and trying to get their things ready for the Hook-In the next day, so Katie and I got back in my van and headed out for dinner and the hotel.  We spent the next few hours working on our projects in the room, which was terrific because Katie gave me some great tips.

I hadn't pulled out my unfelted wool yet on Bucky Bee, and Katie took a look at my work so far.  She pointed out that my loops were too short, and they were too tightly packed, so I was glad she saw the project before I pulled it all out.  I started over on Bucky Bee, and it went much smoother from that point on.  I couldn't believe two hours went by and I hardly noticed! 

The next morning, we were up at 6 a.m. it was off to the Lenexa Community Center!  Black Sheep Wool, as one of our distributors, was the official sales location for Bee Line Townsend, but we brought inventory to hand out as Rhonda and Marty sold it.  Here is my brave minivan, midway through the unpacking:

Boxes of cutters and cassettes ready for hooking!

We had a very busy day, Katie catching up with everyone she hadn't seen in a year, and me meeting everyone I've talked with on the phone at Bee Line Townsend.  Here is a recap of the day:

Julie posing at the BLT booth.

Katie showing off the new cutters.

Rhonda and Marty, working their magic at the Black Sheep Wool booth.

Martha Reeder, another one of our distributors, busy in the Going Gray booth.

Me and Patty from Saltbox Primitive Woolens, also a distributor.

Lots of hooking going on!

What did I learn that day?  Among many other things,

NEVER WEAR BLACK PANTS TO A WOOL PARTY!

It was loads of fun, thanks to Marilyn Schmidt for organizing a great event, and it was fun meeting so many of our customers!